


Too Little, Too Late

by GuardianofFun



Series: Killing me not so softly [4]
Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Ending, Death Fic, Episode: s01e16 Shuttlepod One, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 14:51:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10538718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianofFun/pseuds/GuardianofFun
Summary: Another take on Shuttlpod One, only with more love and death.





	

**Author's Note:**

> the oh so original idea to write a bad ending to Shuttlepod One, inspired by another prompt on tumblr for an 'I love you' as a goodbye. 
> 
> I'm sorry I keep doing this honestly

It had got so cold that Malcolm barely felt it anymore. Ice coated the shuttlepod and was starting to collect on him. His uniform was starting to freeze solid, and he could barely feel his fingers anymore. His breaths came slow and laborious through lips tinged blue, and his heart thudded sluggishly in his chest. He could feel it, his pulse throbbing in his head. 

The only sound in the shuttle was the broken breathing of the two men. Malcolm craned his neck to look at Trip, who sat beside him on the floor of the pod. The engineer looked worse than he felt, nose blue and face puffy. Frost gathered at his eyes, tears frozen over before he had the chance to shed them. He stared ahead, seemingly in another world. Malcolm hoped it was warmer than where they were right now. 

Malcolm went to say something but found his tongue too heavy to move, and his jaw seemed to have locked shut. Trip seemed to not hear his clunky movements, eyes drifting to the stars outside. Malcolm let out a pitiful groan. That seemed to rouse the American. 

“Mal?” he spoke, his voice hoarse. Malcolm nodded as best he could. Trip grimaced. 

“Wh-where… where are we?” Malcolm’s stomach rolled. Trip’s larger frame may have kept him warmer slightly longer, but memory loss was one of the last signs of severe hypothermia. 

“Where’s ‘nterprise?” Trip asked, and the desperation in his eyes made Malcolm’s frozen heart shatter. Unable to answer, Malcolm slid across the icy floor and rested his head on Trip’s shoulder in the most reassuring way he could manage. Trip shuddered. 

“Mal? Y’okay?” Malcolm tried to answer, resulting in a weak hum. 

“Oh God Mal… we’re gonna die aren’t we?” The words made it real, and Malcolm felt his eyes blur as his usual self-control slipped. The sob that was ripped from him made Trip shift, one strong arm managing to stop Malcolm from slipping out from his grip. Frozen legs moved just enough for Malcolm to be pulled between them, pressed close to Trip’s chest. 

Malcolm blinked away the tears as he felt Trip’s cold arms wrap around him. If it wasn’t for the meagre warmth of Trip’s breath on his face, he would have thought the lack of oxygen was finally getting to him. He wished he could say something, reassure Trip that Enterprise was around the corner, but everything felt so heavy, his head full of lead as he slumped against the engineers broad chest. He heard what might have been a sob from above, but it took too much effort to look up. 

“M-Mal… you still with me?” he murmured into the Englishman’s hair. Malcolm grunted. “I g-gotta s-say somethin’… ‘f this is the… last time we’ve got.” 

Frozen fingers found Malcolm’s chin and pulled him up for one last look. 

“Malcolm Reed, I love you… more’n anythin’. I don’t wanna lose you, but if this is it? I gotta tell you… I love y-” Malcolm’s unfeeling lips crashed against Trip’s, a pathetic response to the most wonderful words he had ever heard. They conveyed the right message though, as Trip pushed back with as much strength he had left. If this was their last kiss, as well as their first, he was going to make it count. The kiss shared what little warmth they had left, and Malcolm managed to find enough heat to work his mouth around the words to gasp one more ‘I love you’ against Trip’s chapped lips before the weight of it all brought him crashing down into the engineer’s lap. 

**Author's Note:**

> I apologiseeee <3


End file.
